Young Exorcists
by royaiblue
Summary: [THREE SHOT FIC] Rin and Yukio were both able to see demons since birth, leading to seven years of being surrounded by supernatural creatures. When their foster father found out, they began Exorcist training together and passed their qualification exams six years later.
1. Rin, ages 0-6

**AUTHOR NOTE**

Hello everyone! This is another fic that I've decided to write since I'm absolutely _obsessed_ over this anime/manga (but it's nowhere near Yukio's obsessive need to beat Rin). For those of you who are also readers of my FMA/HP fic, no, I am not abandoning that. Over spring break things happened and well...this fic happened. I will update my other fic by the end of April, mid-May at the latest. AP exams are unfortunately a thing...

Of course, please read and review at the end. It gives me motivation to write if you leave a review, seriously.

* * *

 **EXTENDED SUMMARY**

Canon dictates that Rin began seeing demons at the age of fifteen. However, Rin has been able to see demons since birth. When Father Fujimoto finds out that both of his foster sons have been able to see demons since birth, he and Mephisto have a talk with everyone. From there, Rin endures the long nights of studying to become an Exorcist with Yukio by his side and his foster parents overseeing them. At the age of thirteen, the twins become Exorcists in the Japanese branch. Rin has a Meister in both Knight and Tamer and Yukio in both Dragoon and Doctor.

When it is time for the twins to enter high school, they are enrolled into True Cross Academy with scholarships from Mephisto Pheles. To help pay for schooling, they both are asked to teach at the Exorcist cram school. Fujimoto retires from teaching at the school, giving Yukio a spot. Rin takes on the empty slot for teaching Exwires the Knight Meister. However, their first year students are a handful, and when mixed with Rin's tendencies to go over the top, this year may be interesting...

* * *

 **RIN, NEWBORN**

I've always been able to see them.

The coal tars have been the pesky bugs that they are since the first time I opened my eyes after escaping my mother's womb. The first things I saw when I opened my eyes for the first time were black flying specks constantly buzzing around me, glaring at me with their creepy beady eyes. They had mouths too, and they looked like they were about to announce me as their next meal. I wasn't scared though, and unconsciously used my flames to burn them to ashes. Hell, I didn't even know I had the flames of Satan; I just remember seeing bright blue flames burning the coal tars to dust.

Next to me laid my twin brother, eyes closed and quite possibly sleeping at a time like this. In later years, I would learn that he had a weak constitution at birth and therefore didn't inherit any of Satan's quirks. I would be the one who carried all of Satan's quirks. He lucked out, I guess.

When I was brought into this world, Assiah, I laid on my mother's stomach. I didn't know where we were at the time, and I assumed that that was our home. Unfortunately, it did not take long for a man wearing glasses and the clown to arrive in our "home", and realize the situation at hand. I know my mother said something to the two strangers, because I could feel her breathing pattern quicken the tiniest bit. However, it was slowing down ever so quickly, and eventually, it stopped. I didn't understand at the time that breathing keeps a human alive, so I thought she had begun sleeping, like my twin brother.

The strangers moved their lips, saying some things I could not comprehend (then again, a newborn child will not know what humans are saying), and eventually agreed on something. The clown drew a sword and before I knew it, I felt part of my body being sucked away by him. The sensation was like a vacuum, when it collects the dirt off the carpet and sucks it into the airbag. It wasn't pleasant, mainly because it was a part of me that got sucked away. Think about it metaphorically: would you want to be sucked away by the dusty vacuum in your house?

Then, the man with the glasses moved his lips to say something. The clown sheathed the sword, but not after moving his lips a little more. At the same time, the glasses man scooped my twin brother up first into his arms, then me. He adjusted his grip on us, which made us bounce a little bit. All this time, my brother didn't wake up. I'm honestly surprised; I probably would've woken up by now from all of the jostling.

I remembered the old man carrying the two of us out of our "home", away from my birth mother. I didn't think very much of it; instead, I thought of it as an adventure. I was going somewhere new with my twin brother, and I just might like it.

It turned out that the next fifteen years of my life would be the prologue to my adventure.

* * *

 **RIN, AGE SIX MONTHS**

The coal tars were always around me, and I could see them flying amidst. I found it odd that my daddy couldn't see them, even when I tried to point them out and get them away from me. I saw the coal tars as annoying, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with them. Unfortunately, they seemed to keep finding me as their number one source of living. I do not know how that came to be, but if it makes them happy, I guess I'll stick around and let them be...for a few moments.

By now, I could make little sounds come out of my mouth. Actually forming words was too hard for my baby self, so I tried to say the first syllable and it would mean something that daddy might understand. Of course, it didn't work, and daddy would always make me do something that I did not want to do. That's the way life was until I made up my own language, one that was easy to comprehend and speak. Sure, I might have stolen it from Yukio, but that's another matter entirely.

"Pwa pwa," I said, waving my arms like a maniacal baby. I mimicked a frog leaping as well, and from that, my father understood exactly what I wanted. He picked me up right off the ground as if I weighed nothing and took me outside.

We went into the backyard, where only the "extended family" and my actual family could keep an eye on me as I messed around in the sandbox. At the time, my father referred to the rest of the members of the monastery as my extended family, and he wasn't wrong in a sense. They were my extended family, and I appreciated them all very much. Father Fujimoto was my daddy, and Yukio remained by my side as my twin brother. The only person missing was my mother, but I wasn't very attached to her at birth, so I hadn't acted out in dire need for her.

"Pwa pwa in the sasa today?" my daddy asked me. I nodded eagerly, and he put me down carefully into the sandbox. Immediately, I reached for the red pail.

Yukio and I had our own items for ourselves, and my family thought it was a good idea to distinguish whose was whose. As a result, they asked the two of us which color we preferred. Yukio was drawn almost immediately to the blue color things, so he practically got everything blue. I had to bite my cheek in order not to cry over not getting blue things. I liked blue just as much as Yukio - hell, probably even more. But as the elder brother, I let him get his chosen color. Instead I chose red. It was a bright, bold color that contrasted with the blue of Yukio's things.

I looked inside the pail, noticing a crack right through the middle of it. My six month old self wasn't knowledgeable yet, so I picked up my plastic red shovel and scooped up some sand. I tried to dump it all into the pail, but the sand came out through the crack inside. Knowing that that is not how pails work, I began to wail.

My daddy had been watching the entire time, so he rushed over quickly to calm me down. I think he hugged me and told me it would be okay, I don't remember the details exactly. I do remember him picking me up again and taking me outside of the monastery walls and safety barrier from the demons after me.

He took me down the street to the toy store. It's no longer standing there present day, due to the owners' financial statuses and the fact that they moved away to Akihabara a few years after this scene. However, at the time, it was a small but cozy toy store. The manager would allow the kids to play with some of their sample toys, and if they liked it, they or their guardians could purchase it. There was even a section just for children's books and video games. Yukio would practically live in that section whenever he came.

My father went up to the cashier on duty and asked if they had some more plastic shovels and pails in stock. The lady behind the counter nodded and led us to the aisle where they were located. He thanked her for her time and bought some more red pails with their corresponding shovels.

Well, he tried to, at least.

It turned out that the nice lady behind the counter had just been possessed by a female demon that had been lurking the streets lately. I watched the lady transform into a demon, and to be honest, it wasn't as great as one might think. The lady looked like she was in pain the entire time that the demon took control of her body. Growing a new pair of ears and a squiggly tail sticking out of your ass isn't really painless.

My father blinked at the demon twice and broke out into a run, dropping his goods. I used to think that he was actually afraid, but clearly that's not the case (learned this only six years later). Anyways, he broke out into a run as he took me home, where there was safety behind the demon-repelling barrier. Then, he picked up his Exorcist coat hanging on the back of a kitchen chair and ran back outside to fight the demon. During this time, one of the clergymen, Kyodo, hauled me upstairs to my crib.

"Guess it's nappy time for you now," Kyodo said as he tucked me underneath a blanket. "Don't worry, your brother is in his crib too."

At the mention of Yukio, I smiled. Even at the ripe young age of six months, I was always looking out for my younger brother. Satisfied and slightly tired from all the excitement around the neighborhood, I fell asleep quickly.

When I woke up two hours later, the demon had already been exorcised by none other than the Paladin and life around the monastery had retreated to its normal form. I was happy that my father had returned home, safe and sound, and with some new red pails too.

* * *

 **RIN, AGE SIX**

I had finally aged up enough to the point where I now had to attend school for a good portion of my day. Of course, Yukio was by my side the entire time, and the teachers even made sure that we were placed in the same class at school. This made me (and my protective-of-my-little-brother complex) happy. We were excited about starting school for the first time, and I wondered if it was like anything like the animes on television (the ones that my daddy let me watch).

School was everything we hadn't thought of, though.

On the first day, three chubby boys went out of their way to huddle around Yukio during recess time. They tried to take his glasses and snap them in half so that he couldn't look (and act) like the smart kid in class. Obviously, they didn't take into account his twin brother being right by his side. I saw them attack Yukio, and unconsciously, I balled my hands into two fists. On instinct, I fought all three of them at once with my fists, and won the battle.

I didn't win the argument against my teachers, though.

They told me that harming my fellow peers was not allowed and put me in timeout for the rest of the class period. I didn't really understand why I wasn't allowed to use my hands to protect my younger brother. All I wanted to do was to protect him from the kids that tried to hurt him, but I guess self defense isn't okay at all.

After school, the teacher stopped me from going home until I apologized to them for my rash actions. I didn't see the need to be sorry about their injuries, but I apologized anyways so that I could go home with Yukio as soon as possible. Before I left, however, the teacher gave me a warning.

"If this happens again, Okumura, your parents will be receiving a phone call home. Do try to be on your best behavior, okay?" She reminded me of a moth that kept hanging onto me, and it led to her nickname being 'moth lady'. Yukio did not approve of the name, but it didn't stop him from giggling every time I said it.

Even if I had said yes to my teacher in response to the questions, it did not stop me from protecting Yukio one day before we went home from school. That day, our tests had come back to us, graded. I barely got a passing score on the test and Yukio, being the smart kid that he was, got a perfect score. However, the bullies in our class all got failing scores and received no extra credit either.

Our teacher made a promise with all of us that if we got passing scores on the test, we would get a slice of pizza sometime the following week. Now that the realization dawned upon the bullies, they tried to attack Yukio for receiving two pizza slices in recognition of his perfect score on the test. Being his older brother, I had to protect him and the pizza slices that we got.

The teacher came outside at the wrong time, though. While I was dealing with the stupid people, the teacher decided to come outside and take a smoke in the back field, where I and Yukio were. As soon as she caught eye of Yukio standing alone with three pizza slices and a blue-black haired kid punching a kid, she came over to break up the fight. This resulted in our father having to come pick the two of us up from school, a suspension for me, and an ambulance ride for three seven year old elementary schoolers. Nothing that happened afterwards was pretty, but I would do anything to protect Yukio.

When our father came to pick us up, he put the two of us in the back seats and decided that it was time to take us somewhere more peaceful (probably to cool my flames, literally and metaphorically). He took us to the indoor playhouse for us to play on the slides for a while, just the two of us. Yukio, by now, had already indulged in his two pizza slices, so he was running around to release the excess calories in his system. I, on the other hand, had to wait behind him because my daddy wanted to have a word with me. At first glance, I gulped. Six year old me knew that I had done something wrong - maybe.

"Daddy, why does my teacher look like a demon?" was the first thing that came out of my mouth. I hadn't wanted to say that initially, but whatever fell off my tongue first, came out.

"Huh?" he said. "She doesn't look like a demon. Rin, what have you been watching?" he asked, and I could hear nothing but shock and concern in his voice.

"Pokemon," I said first, but as his gaze into my eyes lingered, I added,"...and Ao no Exorcist."

Father Fujimoto sighed. "Rin, demons exist inside of your heart. If you believe in demons, you'll see them come to life by yourself." Then he adjusted his look at me. "However, you should not be watching Ao no Exorcist*. That stuff is for older kids."

"But I am older!" I protested. "I'm not 2 anymore."

"But you haven't hit the double digits yet, have you?" my father said, and I had to admit, he's got a point.

I crossed my arms. "Okay, I'll stop watching that show."

"...without my or anyone in our extended family's supervision," my father added with a wink. I nodded eagerly in response, happy about the compromise.

This made me feel better about the situation. Ao no Exorcist happened to be one of my favorite television shows, and I didn't want to stop watching it now, not when it is in the middle of its climax. Plus, it was Yukio, of all people, who got me hooked on this show. It surprised me too, but I thought nothing of it. Maybe I didn't know my younger brother as well as I had thought, but this would bring us together, I was sure of it.

Right then, my father got a phone call from someone. Considering the kind of ringtone he had placed on it, the call was urgent. Frowning, he picked up his phone and answered. Every minute that went by made the wrinkles in his face more prominent as he stayed on the phone. After several minutes had gone by and my father had aged a considerable amount of years, he ended the call.

"Sorry, Rin. I need to go help our neighbors with some religious figurines in their household," he lied, and I could tell right away. The story was fishy enough, and he looked pretty serious with something that seemed...not so serious. "Kyodo is going to take you and Yukio home. Go find Yukio and stay by him, please. It'll take Kyodo a couple minutes to come."

"Okay, Daddy," I replied with a smile on my face, and ran off to find my brother.

As I walked away, I picked up on one thing that my father had muttered under his breath.

"Can Rin see them?"

* * *

 **NOTES & AUTHOR NOTE**

Ao no Exorcist*: The Ao no Exorcist here in this fanfic is not the same anime/manga that we're familiar with. It's a more kid appropriate anime with different characters and different plot line. I threw it in there because I thought it was funny, and I hope you all found it amusing as well.

This is only the first part out of possibly three to the introductory portion of the fic. I am halfway finished with the second part as of right now, since it concerns with the background of the entire story (it's pretty weird to write in my opinion, much praise for anyone's who has written something similar to this). The third part may take a while, since I have almost nothing to go off of to write it. But those are the only hints you'll get as to what those parts are about.

Did you guys like this so far? If you did, please don't hesitate to leave a review below. Also, please follow this fic so that when I update, you get the notification to read it. Depending on the amount of reviews and follows/faves, I may leave a preview of the next chapter/part in the next installation.


	2. Rin, age 7

**AUTHOR NOTE**

The second installment to this fic is out, whoop! For those of you who either forgot or just came, we're still in Rin's childhood memories. Hope you all enjoy this part as well, and be ready for the third part when it comes out! Thanks for coming along for the ride!

* * *

 **RIN, AGE SEVEN**

My fated talk with my father, Mephisto Pheles, and the rest of the clergy came the following year after my father realized that I could see the demons. Father Fujimoto wasn't really mad or anything; after all, he knew the fated day would come. However, he was sad and disappointed that I hadn't spoken up about them for seven years.

The day we had the talk was also the day that it finally sunk into his brain that I could see demons. He had a suspicion at first, but never bothered to get the concrete evidence that I could see the demons. After all, he wanted me to have a legitimate childhood, one in Assiah, not in Gehenna.

That day, Father Fujimoto caught me trying to wrestle a low ranking demon in an empty warehouse. I was late to dinner by a couple hours, distracted by the demon in the warehouse, and he had gotten a call from Yukio saying that his brother needs backup, stat. My dad asked him what was wrong, and Yukio let it slip out that he and I could both see demons.

I don't blame him for letting our secret go public.

Almost instantaneously, he and the rest of the clergy came to the warehouse as backup and the Paladin shot the demon to remove him from my presence. Afterwards, I collapsed to the ground, completely out of stamina and breath. Never in my life had I tried to fight someone and almost lose.

My father picked me up, right off the ground and held me as if I was a newborn baby again. He cradled me by his chest, telling me how much I shouldn't go walking around, attracting attention, and starting fights that I can't win by my hand power alone. I think that was hinting at something he'd tell me later.

"Let's go home," he said after holding me for a couple minutes. "We have things to discuss."

All the clergymen bowed their heads and some of them even looked sad. I had no idea why they were sad, though. Didn't we just eradicate the demon?

Saddened by everyone's faces, I asked my dad, "Why does everyone look sad?"

Father Fujimoto looked at me with a grim expression. "It's because you defied our orders again. That means we'll have to give you a punishment, and no one wants to give you a punishment."

Over the past year, my father has gotten slightly better at his ability to tell lies. I think he figured out that his lies were weak in the beginning, and due to my human aging, he had to step up the lies to something more believable. Now, Yukio can barely tell the difference between his truths and lies, and I can only distinguish them because of the way his eyes and mouth coordinate. Now, I could barely recognize the fact that this was a complete lie.

On the way back home, my father pulled out his phone and dialed the only person listed as a contact on there: Mephisto Pheles. He carried me with his left arm, not really thinking that I weighed much (I really didn't), and held the phone with his right hand. As they communicated, I managed to pick up some of the call, but not all of it. At the time, my demonic powers hadn't fully awakened yet, so my superhearing wasn't activated.

When we arrived at the monastery, I almost fell out of my father's arm. In front of the gates was a man, dressed similar to a clown. He had a white suit on and a top hat to match it, with a pink striped tie. His outfit, to me, was halfway decent. Halfway, even for a demon like him.

"Mephisto," my father said curtly.

"Shiro, how good it is to see you," Mephisto smiled, tipping of his hat.

My father sighed. "Let's get it over with. Come inside, Mephisto. We can have our more friendly talk later."

Mephisto bowed. "As you wish, Lord Paladin."

My dad put me back on the ground and called for Yukio to come stand by me. With a smile on his face, he introduced us to the stranger named Mephisto Pheles. Somehow, he already knew which twin was which (not that it was hard to tell in the beginning), but he already knew our names and who we were, which struck me as odd. Strangers shouldn't know who we were, right?

Catching my confused face, my father explained briefly, "Mephisto is an old friend of mine, and he met you two originally at birth. He's very aware of you two, enough that he's practically obsessed."

"I am not obsessed!" protested Mephisto.

Shiro adjusted the glasses on his face. "Says the otaku that keeps animes and mangas in his mansion." He escorted us all inside, while continuing his statement. "But that's beside the point. Now, hurry into the dining room, all of you. Rin, your dinner is already on the table."

"Even me?" Yukio asked, pointing to himself. He's never played the important person before, so this was different for him.

"Yes, even you," Shiro said, lightly pushing him forward. Yukio smiled, feeling more important by the second.

They all hustled into the dining room and took their seats as soon as possible. I hurried inside and grabbed my bowl of noodles, slurping them down. Yukio and I were asked to sit at one end of the table with Mephisto next to them (but opposite sides of the table). The clergymen took their seats next to them, ready for the worst outcome possible. The twins noticed that Shiro, their father, hadn't arrived in the room yet. Worried, they questioned Kyodo where he was. Kyodo merely answered that he went to retrieve something, a valuable object that belonged to someone in the room.

When Shiro entered the room, he entered with a long object in his hands. It was covered in a red sheath, and I had no idea what it was. However, my twin brother seemed to have a general idea of what it was*.

"Dad, why do you have a sword?" he asked. "I thought you only had Meisters in Dragoon and Aria." I looked at him like he just said something foreign, but he only ignored me. What was he talking about?

Father Fujimoto shook his head while laughing. "I have Meisters in all of the categories, but I choose to specialize in Aria and Dragoon. Yes, this is a sword, you are right in that thinking.. This sword is named Kurikara, and it belongs to Rin, not me."

At the mention of my name, I gasped. I had no idea that I owned a sword, and I couldn't find a memory in which I had a sword in my possession. Also, what did Kurikara mean? It wasn't a name that I would choose, and it sounded like a name from the Kyoto region. What exactly was this sword, and where did it come from?

Seeing my face, Shiro continued, "...but I am not going to hand it over yet, because I haven't explained the matter and the consequences of using said sword. Trust me, the consequences can be severe if you were to use this sword." At this, my face fell, and Shiro grinned.

Father Fujimoto sat down next to me at the table, since Mephisto had already taken a seat next to Yukio. He looked over to his old friend and colleague, and their eyes betrayed their thoughts to each other. One was prepared to explain everything, while the other had a smile of triumph. One had lost the deal and was about to lose the most precious things he's ever had in his life.

He sighed and decided to not hold anything back tonight. "We have a few things to explain tonight, and it concerns everyone in this room right now. I ask those who are already informed of the situation to please hold your tongue until the end, because this will take a while." Shiro looked over at the twins, who were holding their gazes at him, refusing to take their eyes of him for a moment. Yukio had an idea of where this was headed, while I was completely in the dark.

Shiro grabbed one of the coal tars and squished it in between his fingers so that it wouldn't escape. "This is a coal tar, right Rin?" I nodded, seeing the black creature with its wide, yellow eyes looking at me. "How long have you been able to see them? The demons, I mean."

Straight to the point like always. I thought about the question for a moment, and answered, "Forever." At this, everyone in the room gasped, and some almost looked horrified. I wondered if I had said something wrong. Yukio looked at his twin, shocked at the answer. Apparently, he had been told that I couldn't see them, but they were wrong.

"That explains a few things," Shiro muttered, before moving on. "Rin, what I am about to tell is already knowledge to everyone in the room, your brother included for a good portion of it."

At that, I glared daggers at his foster father. "Huh? Are you saying that you kept secrets from me, old man?" Then I looked at my twin brother. "And you didn't tell me that you knew things that I didn't?"

Yukio nodded, feeling guilty about it. But he had sworn to his father that he wouldn't tell his brother anything so that he could keep his normal life and not be bogged down by his heritage.

"Sorry, Rin, but we hadn't anticipated you seeing demons since birth. We thought that your powers wouldn't awaken until your teenage years, at the earliest. Clearly, we were wrong, but are you ready to hear the truth about yours and Yukio's life?"

Without hesitation, I nodded. "Yes." My eyes portrayed the massive amount of strength I had, along with the amount of seriousness I was taking this.

Shiro held up two fingers. "This world consists of two dimensions that mirror each other. One is the material world Assiah, which is what we live in. The other is Gehenna, a place for the demons. Neither of them are supposed to interact at all, but the demons of Gehenna possess humans in Assiah anyways to interact with us. That's where we Exorcists come into play. We are in charge of eradicating the demons and sending them back to Gehenna before they cause major damage in Assiah. However, there are instances of irrevocable damage done in Assiah that were done by the demons. You and Yukio are both part of that group. Both of you are the sons of the evil demon king of kings himself, Satan."

This statement earned a gasp from Yukio. "Huh? But I thought that demons couldn't have babies with humans in Assiah. It doesn't make sense logically."

Shiro scoffed. "There are half demons born every year, most losing their human parent in the process, and many go on to become Exorcists. The Vatican doesn't care about your ancestry, unless you happen to be the child of a demon king, though no one's ever gone on to become an Exorcist if they were the child of a demon king that we know of."

"Then wouldn't it destroy my chances of becoming an Exorcist?" Yukio asked, realizing what that meant.

Shiro shook his head. "As far as we know, Rin inherited all of Satan's powers at birth. Because you were weak at birth, you handed everything over to him. Therefore, you shouldn't have much of a problem becoming an Exorcist. You may have to go through several tests to verify that you do not have any demonic power, but those shouldn't be a problem." At this, Yukio relaxed, glad that he could still move along the path of becoming an Exorcist.

I stopped for a second. "Yukio, how long have you been doing this?"

Yukio put his finger to his chin, wondering how long it has been. "Three months, maybe? It hasn't been long, though the amount of information I have to retain a week is certainly a lot."

Shiro nodded. "Close to three months sounds right. After all, you haven't passed the test to become an official Exwire yet." Yukio looked more irritated at this comment, but my dad ignored it.

"And here I thought he had at least become an Exwire," Mephisto said. "It shouldn't take this long to become one."

Shiro glared at him. "You haven't allowed us to administer the Exwire test at the cram school, so I didn't feel the need to pressure him so early." He glanced over at us again. "But that is not why we're here today. We're here to discuss the future plans, not current, aggravating ones.

Humans in Assiah, demons in Gehenna, they interact with us anyways. You both are the sons of Satan, blah blah blah. Moving on, when you were born, Mephisto and I found you laying beside your dying mother. We were on a mission to execute the sons of Satan if they came out their mother's womb, but I didn't have the heart to kill innocent children. I swore to raise you both under the condition that if Rin awakened his demonic power, you both would be transferred to your other guardian, Mephisto, since you two are technically related to him by blood."

My eyes widened. "You're a demon?" I asked, pointing to the clown.

Mephisto took off his hat and reintroduced himself. "Mephisto Pheles is my pen name in Assiah. My real name is Samael, the king of time and space." His eyes looked purely demonic at this, as if he was staring into our souls. I gulped. "And I'm your half brother."

I looked over at my foster dad. "Get me away from this creep," I ordered with a straight voice.

Fujimoto rolled his eyes and instructed Mephisto to put on his hat again, which he did. Then he proceeded to explain how Yukio and I came to live at the monastery for the last seven years of our lives. He also told us who our mother was, Yuri Egin, and how she was possessed by Satan the year before her death. He went on to tell us about the more gruesome things the Vatican had tried to do to halt our birth or kill us in the womb, but obviously, none of them had worked.

"Satisfied now with your birth story and how you got here?" he asked at the end. Yukio and I exchanged looks. Many details of the story could have been worded better to eliminate the more gruesome detailing, but it wasn't too bad of a story.

"Yes," we both said at the same time.

"The purpose of all of us being here today is to discuss some things. Since Rin had been able to see demons since his birth, it made the deal pointless because it revolved around the fact that all of your demonic power had been sealed tight in the Kurikara. Obviously, you remained your ability to see demons. However, if we were to uphold the deal anyways…"

"Then I get the boys!" Mephisto cheered. To me, it seemed like he was excited about being able to raise us, although my instinct was also telling me that it was a very, very sketchy idea. In a more serious tone, the clown continued. "But seeing how Shiro raised these kids, I would like to a propose a new deal."

"Which is…?"

"Okumura here is already being trained to become an Exorcist," Mephisto pointed at Yukio. Then he pointed at me. "Sometime in the next few years, Okumura here will have to either cope with his demon side in Gehenna or be killed by the Vatican. What does he want to do for the time being?"

I had options, to live or to die. I contemplated the options in my mind, but a different thought tugged in my mind. Would it be worth it or not was the real question, since no one had a clue how much longer I'd be able to live as a human before my demon side awakens fully. But the third idea was so compelling, and being the reckless person I am, I decided to go for it. "Neither."

"Huh? Brother, you can't continue living the same life that you had for the next seven years. It's dangerous!" Yukio, always looking out for me. He may or may not have forgotten how much I enjoyed this.

"Yukio, it's okay," I assured him. "I want to be an Exorcist."

At this moment, I swear two people almost lost their bottom jaws. Yukio's glasses slid off his nose and dropped onto the floor - yes, that was how stunned he was at my statement. Mephisto was shocked at first, but he warmed up to the idea right away. Inside, I could feel him scheming, as if I were a chess piece in his game.

"Interesting!" he exclaimed. "What do you think, Reverend Fujimoto?"

Shiro frowned. "If the Vatican were to find out, then you'd be executed right away, Rin. Do you know what you're getting into? Plus, you're not really the studious type at all."

My eyes narrowed. "That's because I can't sit down and comprehend any of this!" I pointed to a big wordy book in front of Yukio. "I like more practical applications than conceptual work," I huffed.

Yukio adjusted his glasses, which he had picked up only moments ago. "Brother, just admit it: you're lazy."

This earned a scowl from me, but I didn't outright say that I was lazy. Instead, I turned to his foster father. "The Vatican can try to kill me after I prove to them my Exorcism skills and my demon side wakes the hell up. Before that, no."

Mephisto laughed. "Reverend Fujimoto, you've raised quite the boy!" His wicked smile was really creeping me out, seriously. "I've made a decision!" he declared out loud, so everyone could hear. "And no one will contest me, am I right?"

"Sure," Shiro said, somewhat bored, somewhat interested in his words.

"Eins, zwei, drei!" Mephisto said, turning into a dog. While the dog was somewhat cute, knowing what the dog actually was made the dog a lot less appealing. I found the transformation somewhat odd and wretching. The clown could actually transform into an animal that could potentially be used as a spy. Wonderful. "I've decided to let the two Okumura boys remain in the monastery."

"Pay up," I heard Nagatomo say to the clergymen around him, who were digging in their pockets for spare change and wallets. They actually used this opportunity to bet on whether or not we'd stay? The idea irked me.

Mephisto transformed back into his clown form and cleared his throat. "Not done yet, folks. Now that Okumura's ability to see demons has been brought to our attention and his want to become an Exorcist, I believe that I and Reverend Fujimoto should oversee any training done by the boys."

My foster father nodded. "I can agree to that. There is to be no Exorcist training that isn't known by either myself or Mephisto done. Agree, Rin?" He looked at me, knowing very well what I'd do if I didn't agree to this term.

"Sure," I stated blandly. I didn't care, so long as I get to be alongside my brother. It would've been nice to have some freedom, but the job was most likely dangerous, with the way the adults are looking over at us right now. Yukio was probably aware of the danger, but he continued to sit there with a straight face.

"Then it's settled!" Mephisto clapped. "Okumura Brothers, you shall stay here with the Reverend and train to become an Exorcist. The Exwire exam is scheduled to be sometime soon, so study hard!" With a clap and an 'eins, zwei, drei', the clown disappeared from his seat, leaving us in the monastery.

"That damn clown," Father Fujimoto muttered, angry. He wanted to know the exact date of the Exwire exam so that he could prepare us both for it in time. "I guess the party's over tonight. Nagatomo, lead Rin and Yukio to their room. Kyodo, follow me." He started to walk out of the room, my sword in hand. I guess I wouldn't be getting it for a good while.

As we were escorted to bed, I watched my foster father lead Kyodo to a different room, worry lines etching on his face. It was clear that he looked almost a decade older right now, rather than his usual forty year old self.

This would be a long six years to becoming an Exorcist, no doubt about that.

* * *

 **NOTES & AUTHOR NOTE**

*: Yukio's already been training to become an Exorcist before this scene. It's been approximately two to three months since Shiro asked him if he'd like to become an Exorcist, and of course, he accepted.

How did you guys like this part? I tried not to focus on their more defining characteristics as fifteen year olds, but the starting point of their defining characteristics. Also, Mephisto Pheles was an odd person to write about, and to write in. Anyways, if you liked the second part of the introduction, please leave a review below! Thank you everyone so far for your great reviews, I appreciate them all!


	3. Rin, age 13

**AUTHOR NOTE**

I'm actually relatively surprised that I wrote a good chunk of it in the last two hours. Sure, some of it looks like a word spew from my mouth, but I promise that it makes some sense. Also key note: most of this, if not all of it, will probably not be canon...whenever the hell we learn about the Exorcist exam. This is my idea of what the exam could be like, so please do not think that this is exactly how the exam will go! Another thing: thank you for the great reviews! The following and favoriting count also makes me really happy to see, so please keep it up! Love you guys!

* * *

 **RIN, AGE THIRTEEN**

"We've finally made it to this point," Yukio said, giving me a hesitant smile. I could tell that he was very, very nervous about the Exorcist exam*.

Six years ago, we began training together as a duo in exorcism. A couple months after I picked up on the two parallel worlds and a bit of exorcising, Father Fujimoto and Mephisto Pheles gave us the okay to take the Exwire exam with the other cram school students. The older kids found it strange that we were joining them for the exam, but so long as we pulled our weight, they didn't care. We pretty much took care of ourselves anyways. We earned our Exwire certification with them, and heading towards our Meister learning and other Exorcising techniques and tips that we needed to know.

After a couple months of being an Exwire, Yukio and I were given the ok by Mephisto Pheles to go on missions with our father. I remember those days; we were so tiny compared to the adult Exorcists that were on those missions with us. The day that we first met Kuro was my first mission; Yukio's had been a week before because I had gotten myself into a fight the same time as the mission. Fujimoto wasn't thrilled to see my bloodied face after that.

Kuro was entrusted to be my familiar, since we were both demons and I could hear his thoughts as well as he could hear mine. Also, he was more responsible than I was, not to mention how old the demon cat was. Compared to him, I seemed like a big teenaged baby.

Around this same time, Mephisto Pheles began to invite himself over to the monastery to check on our exorcising progress. Yukio and I were progressing fairly well, with my twin brother being the role model that I needed in order to motivate myself to work when I didn't want to. He also came for a second reason: to teach me a couple tips and tricks to survive in the demon world, should I end up in Gehenna or anything.

Maybe my future really does lie in becoming a spy for Assiah, who knows?

When Yukio and I turned twelve, the number of missions that we were invited to grew. We were now doing a mission at least once a day, if not more. A few weeks after our birthday, Yukio was confident enough to take his Exorcist exam. It took a lot of coaxing and reassurance, but he finally gave in. We would take our exam sometime in the next twelve months, and the months leading up to it would solely focus on our Meister abilities in our fields.

"Which Meister are you going for?" Yukio asked after the Exwire exam. We had successfully made it through and were currently celebrating our success at the beach with some of the cram school students. Yukio had dragged me aside to a place by the dunes so that we could talk in peace without being interrupted.

I didn't hesitate. "Knight."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Are you not going to learn another field?"

I shrugged. I hadn't thought that far, and none of the others really satisfied me, nor were they appropriate, suitable fields for someone like me. And no, I'm not referring to my demon side.

I found it odd that five years later, I would be taking the exam to become a Knight and a Tamer. Perhaps Kuro had grown on me, but after I got my familiar, the idea of being a Tamer didn't look too shabby. The job seemed okay enough; it's not like I'd be chanting dumb religious verses like an idiot, undefended and vulnerable. Plus, having familiar that do the work for you was an amazing idea when you yourself are down.

"Rin," Yukio said, pushing up his glasses. At this age, he had traded in his old, bigger framed glasses for rectangular shaped glasses. Frankly, I thought it made him way too old and more like a salaryman than a thirteen year old kid.

I turned to look at my brother, who looked like a shaky mess of human flesh. "Yeah, Yukio?"

He gave me a nervous smile. "We're going to pass this exam, right?"

I grinned, and held up a sword into the air. "Yeah!"

When I was nine, Fujimoto introduced me to the other person he raised: Shura. She wasn't like our older sister, but she sure acted like one. She would keep us in line, but also mess around like she was our age and not twenty two. She also helped me with my Knight skills, since she had a Meister in Knight and a Middle First Class Exorcist. Mephisto and Shiro both teamed up with her to buy me a professional sword fit for Knights so that I would not have to use Kurikara for the exam and reveal my demon side. We named it Koukara, the sister (or brother) to Kurikara. All three of them were also covering up my demon genes in my body as something that came from a lower class demon that had possessed my mother during pregnancy. They're not completely lying.

Shiro Fujimoto led me down to a chamber hall, where desks were laid out with paper and pencils on top. The first part of the exam was a written test to see how much we knew about demons and this world. Several older people were in the room as well, ready to take their Exorcist exam. Yukio and I took our seats next to each other. I was determined to pass this exam and become a legitimate Exorcist; Yukio was prepared to ace the exam and show himself off as an Exorcist prodigy.

I'm not exaggerating; he did end up acing the exam and earning himself a name right away. I, on the other hand, barely passed the written exam. Most of it contained really big, lengthy words that I could barely understand, so I ended up sleeping halfway through the exam. If it weren't for a huge bell chiming five minutes before the exam ended, I would have failed.

After the written portion of the exam, Yukio checked up on me. I guess he noticed that I dozed off for a good half hour, and he scolded me for it. He'd be angry if I failed the exam due to my napping.

"I'll be okay, Yukio," I reassured. "I did fill in answers for all of them."

"Yeah, but were they the right ones?" Yukio asked. "I'm just scared for you, Brother."

In order to move on to the practical examination, you had to pass the written part first. Yukio got called out for acing the exam, and I got called dead last since I barely passed. I think Fujimoto told me that I got the minimum score in order to move on. Go me.

An escort led me, Yukio, and two other people to an outside area, reserved just for the exam. I take note of the scorch marks and other dents and cracks in the foundation. This wasn't the first time that the practical exam has been held here.

Before the exam, my foster father had warned the two of us that he himself was overseeing the practical portion. He told us that we were not to act familiar around him; otherwise, it would lead to suspicion. He also said that he would grade us as fairly as he graded the other examinees. Historically, it was harshly.

Kyodo came up to the microphone. "All bow down to the Paladin, Shiro Fujimoto," he said in the most monotone voice I have ever heard.

Yukio leaned over and whispered, "He couldn't be any more emotionless, could he?" I shook my head as we bowed down to our father.

I had to admit it, it was awkward and weird and so unlike something I'd do to honor him.

"Rise," Fujimoto said. "Welcome to the practical examination of the Exorcist exam. Congratulations to all who have passed thus far, I applaud you all. The written portion is not an easy test either. However, this practical test is not easy either. Behind these walls," he gestured to the brick walls on the right hand side of the area, "are Lower and Middle Class demons. Your job is to exterminate these demons within the time limit given. When you exorcise them, the demons will give you points. Middle Class ones are worth 2, Lower Class ones are worth 1. If you achieve a number above our expectations after clearing this stage, you will proceed to the third part of the exam, the Meister examination. Am I clear in my instructions?"

"Yes sir," we all chorused.

Shiro looked over at the massive clock tower on the north side. "Begin," he announced into the mic.

Immediately, Yukio pulled out his two guns and shot away at the demons. They were coming in full force the moment Shiro gave the signal. I decided to hang around for a moment and inspect the demons before I exorcised them. The number of Middle Class demons were fewer than the number of Lower Class ones, but this made sense. The challenging ones were not to be abundant in this kind of situation. I glanced over at the clock; how long did we have again?

"Father never told us how long we had," Yukio muttered to me. Seems like he heard me.

"Well damn it all," I said, reaching for Koukara. "Time to slay these asshats!"

After five minutes had passed, half of the demons had been exorcised. By this time, I had studied the other two people with us. Person A had black, spiky hair, and clearly was heading for a Tamer by the looks of his familiar. Person B had short purple hair and was an Aria and Doctor master. She was healing Person A as he got injured in the fight. I assumed that they had come here together. Yukio was doing fine on his own, since he had his dual wielding pistols with him. Whenever he had to replace the bullets, I stepped in to raise his defense level and attack the demons around him.

The time limit ended up being seven minutes exactly. A loud siren blared when the practical portion was over, and I looked over to see my father standing up, congratulating us all. He told us that we all had passed the second round of the exam.

The same escort from earlier exorcised the remaining demons on the field. Luckily for him, there were about ten left to kill. Then he invited Fujimoto down to the ground level to organize how the Meister examination will go. Apparently, he was also going to oversee that one as well.

"For the third part of the examination, I bring four specialists in their field, including myself. We will call you up, one by one, to test your Meister abilities. Depending on the field, it may either be against one of us, a demon, or for Doctor hopefuls, an injured person. You may take however much time you want to impress us. I must warn you beforehand though. The longer it takes to impress us, the lower your score will be. This part has been known to weed out the weak, so be careful."

"Yes sir!" we chorused.

Fujimoto smiled. "And with that, Rin Okumura, you are first up on the plate. Please state your field or fields."

I stepped up. "My name is Rin Okumura, and I'm trying out for a Meister in Knight and Tamer."

The other four judges came out of the shadows and took a seat right next to the Paladin. I recognized the Knight judge as Arthur Auguste Angel - what an annoying presence so early on in my Exorcist career - and the Tamer judge as Igor Neuhaus, a fellow teacher at the cram school. I assumed that Shiro Fujimoto was the Aria judge, since that was his best field of expertise.

Fujimoto nudged Arthur to sit up and pay attention to this exam. "Mr. Okumura, you are asked to fight a Middle Class Demon for your Knight examination. Mr. Neuhaus, please summon said demon, if you could."

Mr. Neuhaus summoned a Middle Class Demon for the Paladin and guided it towards me. "Please begin when you are ready."

A fire lit up in my eyes (figuratively) and I was determined to beat this bastard like I would with any of the Eight Demon Kings of Gehenna, or even Satan himself. The fight itself passed by in a blur, and I couldn't remember the exact events that went down in those moments. I do remember never pulling out Kurikara or letting my flames show. That would not have been good. I also know that exorcising the Middle Class demon was a little difficult at first, but I identified its weak spot quickly. I passed my Meister exam for a Knight.

For my Tamer exam, there were two ways to earn that Meister. Either you had to present your familiar and show the interaction between yourself and the familiar, or you summoned one yourself and have that fight a Lower Class demon. I opted for the first option, since I already had Kuro as a familiar. I spent a good five minutes playing with the black cat, showing the trust and friendship we had formed in the last five years. I received an automatic pass for the Tamer exam as well from Igor Neuhaus, though he didn't seem too happy about it. I don't think my father persuaded him into passing me anyways.

Yukio was up next. His Doctor exam came first, as he tended to my cuts and scratches from the earlier fights. I let him do that, since it was already pretty routine that he tended to my wounds after missions and fights. The Doctor examiner was pleased to see how well he handled himself, and earned a pass right away. His Dragoon examiner was astonished to see him with the two pistols in his hands, and how he exorcised the Middle Class Demon with them. It was clear that Yukio was accustomed to using both guns in fights, and that he had obviously trained very hard in order to pull off such a feat at a young age. He earned a pass in Dragoon as well.

The purple haired girl's name turned out to be Kira Hikami, and she earned a pass in the Doctor field, but a fail in the Aria field. At the last moment, she panicked over the fact that the demon was about to swallow her whole, and she stopped reciting the chant. Fujimoto was forced to exorcise the demon by finishing off the chat, which led to a failure in her Aria examination. Her Doctor exam happened to be healing a person who had been infected by a ghoul, and she passed that easily.

Her partner's name was Ryu Takahashi, and he failed the Tamer examination. It was almost funny, considering how he failed the Meister exam. The slips of paper that he used to summon his familiars ending up tearing at the very end of the practical exam, so his familiars disappeared. He also forgot to bring extra paper and a pencil with him to draw the circles needed. It would be an automatic failure anyways if the Tamer examiner had supplied him with those materials, so he gave up right then and there. I found it amusing since I was the reason he didn't have his slips, but can you blame a person for sticking their sword into the ground, thinking it would go through dirt and not paper?

At the end, Fujimoto applauded us all for making it through this far. The three of us, Yukio, me, and Kira, would move on to the fourth round of the exam. Ryu would have to stay outside the Vatican and wait for Kira, his lover apparently, to finish up her interview. Yes, the fourth round was an interview with the Grigori to see if you were a decent human being (or demon, for me) to become an Exorcist.

When it was my turn, I stepped inside of the room and shut the door. The three members of the Grigori took a moment to inspect me, then drilled me on several policies of the Exorcist community. Many of the questions referred to slaughtering demons or anything relating to Satan, and I tried my best to hold my tongue so that something wouldn't go flying. After that, they asked me more personal questions, such as what I did for a hobby and when my birthday was. I think birthdays and engagements are a huge deal in Assiah, since we had no idea when our death date was.

"When is your birthday, Mr. Okumura?" Melchior, the dude in the green veil, asked.

"December 27, sir," I responded politely.

"According to my records, you share this birthday with your twin brother, Yukio Okumura. Is he the boy sitting outside of this room, waiting to take his turn?" he continued.

"Yes," I replied. "He is indeed my twin brother."

"Out of curiosity, but who is the older twin?" Casper, the one in the pink veil, asked.

"I am," I stated proudly.

After the personal questions went by, then came the more deep, dark questions. These questions were ones that could dig deep into your soul and you really had to know what you were doing in order to answer these questions. I had to pretend that I had half a brain, or whatever the hell the old geezer likes to tell me these days.

When my interview ended, Yukio was asked to enter the room. I sat out in the hallway, waiting for him to finish his interview so that we could find out our results together. Kira was long gone by this point; she got promoted to Lower Second Class, which meant that she was officially an Exorcist. Ryu, her lover, would have to wait an entire six months in order to retake the exam. I silently wished him the best and hoped that he didn't forget his paper next time or get a shithead like me who accidentally tore his papers.

Twenty minutes went by, and Yukio finally stepped out of the room. The bags under his eyes were more defined now; he looked damn tired after the interview. I began to worry; had he failed his interview? Yukio hadn't shown any change his emotion yet, but then again, neither of us were told the result immediately following the exam. I grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the hall. My patience was wearing out by the minute.

The escort led us out of the Vatican and into the streets of the True Cross Academy town. The last thing he told us was that our results would be found with our guardian within the next twenty four hours. Since we were underage, we were not entrusted with the results, which meant that Shura had them (she played the role of our mother). Neither of us knew where she was at the moment, so I dragged Yukio into the nearest convenience store to pick up some snacks.

"Brother, do you even have any money?" Yukio sighed as he picked up a bottle of water and potato chips.

I waved my wallet in front of his face. "Yeah!"

Yukio snatched it and inspected the contents. When he found the money and was satisfied at the amount, he handed it back to me and took his items to the counter. I grabbed a box of donuts and a green tea for snacks and added those to the bill.

"That'll be eight hundred yen," the cashier spoke. I took out some money from my wallet and handed it to her. She handed me the change and Yukio got the bag of all the food and drinks.

As we left the store, Yukio opened up the bag of chips. "I'm surprised you had money on you."

I laughed. "So am I."

We walked over to the cram school. By now, it was around one in the afternoon, which meant that cram school classes were about to begin. We didn't have to attend today, since we just took the exam, but we knew that our dad would be waiting for us there. There was a good chance he knew the result as well, so I bet on him knowing the result. Doesn't the Paladin get to know these kinds of things?

Yukio walked into the Demon Pharmaceuticals classroom. He noticed that our dad had not shown up yet, and a classmate of ours told us that he would not be here today at all. Yukio thanked him and left class to go find Mephisto and see if he knew anything. I've come to realize that Yukio's no longer worried about the interview, but anxious for the result in general.

I noticed Mephisto Pheles as he was trotting around the cram school in his dog form, and kicked him good in the gut to capture his attention. He transformed back into his human state, and winced at the bruise on his left side. He scolded me severely for that injury, but I had no care in the punishment nor to anything that he was saying.

"Anyways, would you like to see the result to the examination?" he asked us both. The both of us screamed yes instantly. A wicked smile crept on his face, and the clown led us down the hall to a supposedly empty classroom. He gestured for us to enter first.

When we entered the classroom, the room lit up to reveal a huge banner on the wall and a small cake in the middle of the room. The result that we had gotten was as clear as day, and our father congratulated us for our hard work for the past several years and for today.

"You earned these titles, Rin, Yukio," he said proudly and clapped us on the back.

At the age of thirteen, Yukio and I became Lower Second Class Exorcists. In the next two years, our ranks would rise significantly to Middle First Class Exorcists. Shura would become an Upper First Class Exorcist, and Shiro Fujimoto would retain the Paladin rank. Mephisto Pheles was still an Honorary Knight for the Vatican.

The next great adventure was about to begin for Yukio and I. Just you wait, Satan, I'm going to kick your ass someday.

* * *

 **NOTES AND AUTHOR NOTE:**

*: I don't know how many times I will have to clarify, but this was my version of what the Exorcist exam is like. 99.99% sure it's not canon. 0.001% sure I will rewrite this at a later point to make it more canon when we get details on the Exorcist exam.

Thank you guys for reading it through this far; it makes me really happy to see you guys enjoying this fic. If you are new to this fic or have forgotten where we are, this is the third and final part to the introduction of Young Exorcists. The real story begins in the next installment, so readers, be ready for when it comes out! Don't forget to review if you haven't yet!


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